Taylor Dearden, who is best known for her role on The Pitt, is opening up about the potential for a romantic storyline for her character, Dr. Mel King.
The actress, 33, who got her start with a small role on her father Bryan Cranston‘s notorious series, Breaking Bad, went on to appear on the MTV series Sweet/Vicious and the Netflix series American Vandal. But it’s her role as the sweet second-year resident Dr. Melissa King, opposite Noah Wyle on TV’s hottest medical series, The Pitt, that has kicked Dearden’s star power into high gear.
In a revealing new interview, Dearden opened up about the potential for her character to have a romantic storyline.
“The truth is I don’t know…. We have to keep some stuff open because we don’t know where the writers want to take the story,” Dearden, 33, told Glamour in a new interview. “What I’ve envisioned may not be the direction they want to go.”
Dearden also said that she doesn’t really inject much romance into Dearden’s life.
“But for me, I always saw Mel as someone who is not romantic — as actually genuinely asexual — and friendship is the most important thing for her. That flirtation, romance, that aspect is not really a part of her, but it’s also hard to make that decision without consulting the writers and seeing what direction they want to go in,” she noted, adding that’s “how I’ve always envisioned Mel and how I’ve played her.”
Dearden added that she’s willing to adapt if need be.
“Hopefully loose enough that I can change course if need be,” she said. “I think everything for Mel is connection to people and being friends and having true companionship, which I don’t think needs to be romantic.”
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Who Does Taylor Dearden Play on The Pitt?
Dearden’s Pitt character, Dr. Mel King, is a fan favorite on the series. Like her character, Dearden is also neurodivergent. However, unlike Dearden, King has not yet been diagnosed.
On a panel back in December, Dearden explained that her character on the show has not been diagnosed with ADHD. Dearden thinks the doctor has likely been affected by her sister having autism.
“If you have a sibling who’s more severely on a spectrum, the parents often don’t even notice that their other child is,” Dearden said, PEOPLE reported. “That’s kind of always how I saw it. With a lot of Mel, it’s just kind of unmasking and seeing what that looks like, and then also being like, ‘Wow, I’m kind of glad I mask sometimes.’ “
Photo by Kevin Mazur on Getty Images
Does Taylor Dearden Have ADHD?
Dearden has opened up about her lifelong journey through ADHD and how she’s taking that into play when it comes to navigating the experience of her character. In speaking about her character’s experience, Dearden hasn’t shied away from opening up about her own ADHD journey. She recently spoke with Harper’s Bazaar and shared how she came to learn she had ADHD.
“I was really young. My second-grade teacher said to my parents, ‘She can’t finish a test. Something’s up here.’ Usually, girls get diagnosed with ADHD later in life, but luckily, I was a little hyperactive. Because of that, I presented more like a boy, and I was able to get diagnosed earlier,” Dearden shared, noting that a significant amount of progress has been made in the study of ADHD even in the last five years.
In the PEOPLE piece, Dearden noted that one of her tips for dealing with some of her challenges is giving herself advice.
“I’m on the ADHD spectrum so I gave myself advice in the mirror,” she noted.
Related: ‘The Pitt’ Star Taylor Dearden, Daughter of Bryan Cranston, Goes Full Glam and Gorgeous on the Red Carpet
